The Account Manager’s Reading List

Whether you’re an experienced Account Director or a fledgling Exec, the following five books, recommended by our client services team, are indispensable when navigating the often complicated and varied world of account management.

Group Planning Director Richard Midgley recommends:

Troublesome Words by Bill Bryson is excellent when you think you know how to spell something, especially proper nouns. For example do you know the difference between infer and imply? Me neither, but he does. And any book that contains the following quote is indispensable: “Barbecue is the only acceptable spelling in serious writing – any journalist or other formal user of English who believes that the word is spelled barbeque or, worse still bar-b-q is not ready for unsupervised employment.”

Account Manager Kate Lindley recommends:

The Ladybird Book of Mindfulness gives you the chance to step back from life and really appreciate the things that matter… like how Janet from legal really is a pain in the ass! With beautiful illustrations and witty descriptions this book helped me realise that it’s important to take the time to reflect on your career, and ultimately take everything in good humour!

Senior Account Manager Sinead Dowd recommends:

Cheese Monkeys and The Learners: A Tale in Two Semesters by Chip Kidd is not only a delight for the eyes (Kidd is Graphic designer who specialises in book covers) but an insight into the advertising world in the 1960s and its characters, many of which are still recognisable today. You are treated to lessons about the history and practice of graphic design, which focusses primarily on the art of typography, all of which lead to an enhanced understanding of how the advertising practices of today were formed.

Director Mark Loaring recommends:

BooHoo by Ernst Malmsten encapsulates and articulates all the challenges and excitement of developing and pitching a great idea. It also serves as a cautionary tale about not paying full attention to the ‘boring’ bits such as effective budgeting and the factors impacting on success such as a sustainable route to market.

Account Executive Hannah Jackson recommends:

Digital Marketing by Dave Chaffey. When it comes to digital marketing Dave Chaffey is King, with his blog, books and talks (I’m going to one next week with the CIM and it’s a big deal!). Although I’m part of the offline team at Ponderosa, nowadays it’s vital for anyone in marketing to have an understanding of digital, and reading this was great for the insight into other areas of marketing I maybe wouldn’t otherwise have known about.